The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-23

different kinds of game i'll the neicbbor-
hood They had told him that gazelles and
anGelopeS were plentiful on the southern
nils, and when he found himself at the base
OF the ridge, he made up his mind to have
Uhat KIND or game or none Accordingly
with that in view, he began the ascent
OF the hills. They would be called noun
Ialns IN almost any other part OF the world
ior many OF the peaks tower to a height of
5000 to 5000 feet above the sea level The
NIL that Peters chose to climb was one of
the rockiest and most precipitous 1t took
nm upward of two hours to arrive at the
summit. BY the time he was half way I'D.
he had forgotten his desire for game in the
eXhlllratlng work of mountain climbing
The view expanded before him, and in
creased his desire to see it all. The summit
reached, he spent half hour or more rest
ing and enjoying the prospect The chain
OF hills continued far to the south. with
many peaks higher than that on which he
Stood but the view to the northwest was
uninterrupted for long distance.
After while his thoughts returned to
the object of his hunt, and he began to
think OF game again. He made up his mind
to descend the ridge to the north, and thus
give variety to his return home He had
gone but short distance from the summit
when he saw an animal bounding along
over the rocks, quarter of a mile below.
liz With he UO1u ABOUT MS NUM-
evening, that he believed the animal to be
AN ANTELOPE,
and he made for it without delay 1t was
going in an easterly direction, and Peters,
accordingly, changed his course, in order to
get ahead of it, if possible. He scrambled
down the painless rocks as fast as he could
go, until he saw that the antelope had come
to standstill. 1t stood face away from
him, perfectly still. 1t was yet so far dis
tant that Peters did not venture a
shot, and he crept cautiously down
towards it. He had come within two
hundred and fifty yards when the ante
lope turned slowly about and faced him.
There was neither rock nor thicket near to
conceal him, and following his excited i'm
pulse, he raised his gun and took careful
aim. The animal gave him ample time to
do this, but the distance was SO great that
Peters was not at all sure of hitting the
mark. When he fired he saw the antelope
spring into the air and stagger forward
He believed he had succeeded fully, and
started forward at as fast run as the steep
descent would allow But the antelope
seemed to recover from the shot or shock
whatever it might be, and set off on a run
also. Peters was excited and kept up the
pursuit The antelope ran along the side of
a hill, while the hunter ran down. In this
way he really gained somewhat on his prey,
and was soon able to see that he had
wounded the animal. He did not see that
what made it run along the side
of the hill was the fact that it
was skirting the top of a tremendous
precipice, a sheer descent of bore
wall more than 1000 feet from top to bot
tom. The hills in this vicinity are not SO
high that vegetation is scant on the sum
mits; it is different from that in the valleys
but thick enough in spots where the rock
has soil enough for roots to grow. There
was clump of bushes and small trees on
the very edge of the precipice at one point,
and it was toward this that the antelope
was making. 1t was evidently getting weak
from the loss of blood, and Peters kept his
eyes upon it as ne ran, and be noted the
clump of bushes, and feared lest his game
should get out of sight of them. He had
almost caught up with the antelope, when
it disappeared among the trees Peters
fastened all the more rapidly, and it was
not until he was within a rod of the brink
that he realized to what he was approach
ing He had been watching the game so
closely that he had not seen what otherwise
would have been most evident 1t gave him
something of a start to see that there was
A CHAsM YAwNING BEFORE HIM,
and he instinctively slackened his speed. In
so doing his foot loosened small stone, and,
tripping on it, he was pitched forward at a
greater impetus than his run had given
him. 1t was impossible to stop. AT the
edge of the precipice he grasped wildly at
what seemed to be a bush, and was hurled
into it. He felt it give way beneath his
weight, and he let go his gun and seized the
trunk of the bush or tree with both hands
Down he went, it seemed to him, forty feet
or more. Then the tree swung up again
under the influence of its own elasticity
He hung on for life, and up and down
he swayed as the tree gradually settled
into a stationary position He saw
that he was mistaken about the distance
through which he had sunk on his first de-
scent, but that failed to cheer him. The tree
was rooted in a shelf of rock about 10 feet
below the top of the ledge, and its top
branches coming perhaps the same distance
above the edge had made it look like bush
He had hold of the trunk within feet of
the very top, and he could see that his
weight made a tremendous strain upon the
tree. 1t was evidently an exceedingly supple
wood for it bent down so far that 1t pointed
out from the rock at almost right angles.
All these observations passed through his
mind in the same flash i'll which he thought
out plan for escape from
HIS PERILoUs POSITION.
Before the strain on his arms should grow
too great, he determined to pull himself up
as athletes 90 upon HOTlZOuIil UdI, sIlO ScU
astride of the trunk, and then work his way
along the base. He could not do this, how
ever. without causing the tree to sway up
and down again, and when he had managed
to throw bis leg over the trunk he found
himself in imminent danger of slipping off.
The tree quivered and shook at every mo-
ton, and it occurred to him a question how
long it would stand the repeated strains
before it would tear away at the roots and
send him crashing down after his gun. He
had TO change his tactics. Carefully
he let himself down again until he was in
his original position, hanging on to the
trunk above his head. Then he with the
greatest difficulty made his way toward the
roots by hand-over-hand process. The
chief obstacles were the twigs and branches
that got in his way. But every inch for
ward let the tree regain little of its nor
NAL position, and eventually, when he was
| about half the way towards the roots, 1t
became nearly upright, and he was but a
little below the level of the edge OF the cllif.
He reached out to the rock and succeeded
in getting a hold upon the very edge. BY
this vantage he drew himself from the tree
TO the solid earth again and sank down ut
terly exhausted.
He found, of course that his nerves had
been badly shocked, and it was consider
ahle time before he recovered sufficient
strength to proceed on his way. AS he re-
gained his spirits, he felt some curiosity to
see what had become of the antelope. lie
went into the thicket, on the edge of the
cliff, and surmised, from the traces OF blood
= = ,,a.oI.- That tba animal had bapOma